What is the NFL salary cap for 2021?

As with most businesses and organizations this past year, the NFL has suffered a financial hit due to the pandemic and that has affected the league's salary cap for the upcoming year.

Playing a full season in 2020 with little to no fans in attendance cost the league and the teams a ton of money in revenue. Hence, in 2021, the NFL salary cap is lower than it was in 2020. This is the first time since the salary cap was created in 1994 that it was reduced.

What is the salary cap limit for 2021 NFL season?

The salary cap for the upcoming 2021 season is $182,500,000, almost $17 million lower than last year's salary cap number, which was $198,200,000.

With the salary cap likely to go down this offseason, expect NFL teams to rely quite a bit on base salary to signing bonus conversions to create 2021 cap space. An explainer on how those work, plus the upside and downside for the team and the player involved ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Bea56xZ9z6

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 22, 2021

Teams have scrambled during the offseason to make moves that will allow them to have depth on offense and defense and still be under the salary cap. Several players around the league have even agreed to sign "voidable" contracts to help teams maneuver their way out of cap space issues.

A voidable contract is when a team signs a player to a multi-year extension and pays most of the salary as a signing bonus, ensuring that the money owed can be spread across the length of the contract without it carrying a major cap hit this upcoming season.

The NFL just informed teams the 2021 salary cap will be $182.5 million per club, source said.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 10, 2021

Veteran quarterbacks Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger and Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Tom Brady each signed voidable contracts to help their respective teams beat their cap space troubles. Wide receiver A.J. Green of the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans linebacker Jayon Brown also signed voidable contracts.

Other players that agreed to long-term contracts before the pandemic had to take a pay cut this year to help their team get under the cap limit.

The NFL has indicated that the cap limit will be increased in 2022 and teams will be able to sign players in free agency and retain their star players.

Why does the NFL have a salary cap?

The salary cap is a way to ensure a level playing field. Irrespective of how much money the organization may be worth, they cannot exceed the NFL salary cap.

If a team is found guilty of exceeding the cap limit, they could be fined $5 million and have draft picks taken away.